A BEAST OF PREY 61 



recognition ; and at other times it was destroyed 

 by the housemaid or the gardener. On an average, 

 I should say, Rosalind had to rebuild the whole 

 concern about once in three days ; and as she was 

 obliged to spin it all out of her own body, this came 

 very expensive. We noticed, however, that she 

 was economically minded, for she wasted no web ; 

 I think she ate up all loose ends or remnants : and 

 the central portion, where she occasionally reposed 

 on the look-out for prey, was free from the viscid 

 beads which elsewhere adorned the cross-pieces. 

 You see, this part of the structure was of com- 

 paratively small service as a snare, while the sticky 

 stuff would have interfered with her own freedom 

 of movement. She usually avoided the beaded 

 spiral, and only ran along the stouter spokes or 

 cables. 



But the most wonderful scene of all was wit- 

 nessed when Rosalind found in her net a large 

 wasp or a blow-fly. On such occasions, she was 

 generally resting in her nest under the rose-leaf, 

 with one foot held firmly on the cord of communi- 

 cation. If a light pull only came, she would rush 

 wildly forth, and seize in a frenzy the small fly 

 that caused it. She seemed as if drunk with lust 

 of carnage. But when the strength of the pull 

 showed her that a large bee or wasp was struggling 

 in the web, she would act in various ways according 

 to the needs of the moment. Wasps she ap- 

 proached, we noticed, with considerable fear ; she 

 knew their dangerous nature. But she was seldom 

 afraid, even so, of tackling them ; though at times, 



